Congress' Approval Rating Just Sank To A Record-Breaking Low

Americans’ opinion of Congress has sunk to a historic low, according to a new CNN poll. Only 14% of the poll’s respondents said they approve of the way Congress is handling its job.

It is also only the third time since CNN started the poll in 1974 that Congress’ approval rating has sunk below 20%. The other instances were in March 1992, in the midst of the House banking scandal, and in June 1979, the month before President Jimmy Carter delivered his infamous “malaise” address to the American people.

The last time the poll was taken, in January, 26% of respondents said they approved of Congress’ performance. As Noah Rothman writes at Ology, “Who would have thought that those would be the ‘good ol’ days?'”

The CNN poll was taken both before and after the House of Representatives vote on Monday to pass the Budget Control Act, which raised the federal debt ceiling. 40-four per cent of respondents said they approved of the agreement, as they understood it, and 52% said they opposed it.

Interestingly, when asked how they thought the deal would impact the economy, 49% of respondents said it would have a good effect, and 42% said it would have a bad effect. So at least some percentage of the American people did not want the debt deal to pass, even though they thought it would be good for the economy.